Hot reads: Kimmel savages Chargers in hilarious video

A general view of the StubHub Center during the fourth quarter between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers.

A general view of the StubHub Center during the fourth quarter between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers. (Jake Roth / USA Today Sports)

Tod Leonard

For Chargers fans turned haters, it doesn’t get much better when the derision of the team goes national. And not many people are better at brilliant derision than late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

Kimmel absolutely savaged the Chargers and their attendance problems on Thursday night in a segment that included a video from a faux marketing campaign for the team dubbed, “Sunday’s Self-Guided Meditation Retreats.”

Los Angeles was recently blessed with not one, but two NFL teams: the Rams and the Chargers and both of them are having trouble filling seats. The Chargers only have 27,000 seats a ...

Los Angeles was recently blessed with not one, but two NFL teams: the Rams and the Chargers and both of them are having trouble filling seats. The Chargers only have 27,000 seats a ...

It took some personal contemplation – and the loss of an endorsement deal -- but Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton released a video apology on Thursday night for his demeaning response to a female reporter who covers the team.

When Charlotte Observer reporter Jourdan Rodrigue asked Newton a question on Wednesday about a receiver’s route running, the player laughed and said, “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes like ... it's funny.”

Dannon, the maker of the Oikos yogurt brand, quickly dropped Newton as a spokesman.

Newton said in the video:

"After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women. And to be honest, that was not my intention. If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.

I'm a man who tries to be a positive role model to my community and tries to use my platform to inspire others. I take ownership to everything that comes with that. What I did was extremely unacceptable."

Newton noted that he has two daughters.

Interestingly, Rodrigue had to issue her own apology on Thursday.

According to a report in the Charlotte Observer, Rodrigue, 25, apologized on Twitter for tweets she made in 2012 and ’13 that made light of racist behavior by her father.

“There is no excuse for these tweets and the sentiment behind them. I am deeply sorry and apologize,” Rodirgue tweeted.

In December 2012, Rodrigue tweeted: “My dad is being super racist as we pass through Navajo land.”

In August 2013, she tweeted: “He’s the best. Racist jokes the whole drive home.”

She also retweeted others’ remarks that included racial epithets.

“The Twitter posts are regrettable and we wish they hadn't happened," Observer editor Sherry Chisenhall said. "We don't condone the posts or the messages they convey. We believe Jourdan is deeply sincere in her apology and regret about those tweets.”